How To Buy Items With Crypto At Major Online Retailers
Crypto-Marketplace Series: Learn Where & How you can spend Crypto
(5 part series — PART 3)
As a shopaholic and cryptocurrency enthusiast, when you think of crypto as an alternative payment method, the first question that is likely to come to mind is- can you buy items with crypto at major online retailers?
The simple answer to the above question is that cryptocurrencies can be used for all your shopping needs. There are several online based companies and platforms that are accepting cryptocurrency as a payment option. They include; Amazon, Shopify stores, Expedia for hotel bookings and eGifter for buying gifts. Here is a list of more companies that accept crypto-based payments.
This begs for yet another important question- how can you buy items with crypto at major online retailers? In this article, we shall explore how you can spend your coins on pretty any online retailer that accepts cryptocurrency. For purpose of illustration, in our example we shall use Amazon (popular ecommerce platforms) and Bitcoin (the most common crypto coin).
So, how can you use Bitcoin on Amazon?
Amazon does not accept direct payment for products using cryptocurrencies. To transact, you will need to use Purse.io; a mediator platform that enables you to make a purchase on Amazon.
To shop using cryptocurrency on the site, users need have a Purse.io account, digital coins in their Purse account and an account with Amazon.
What is Purse.io and how does it work?
Purse is simply a middleman service that facilitates three things, namely; exchanging of Amazon gift cards for Bitcoin, buying products from Amazon using Bitcoin and offering discounts.
The process of buying from Amazon with Bitcoin works as follows:
- You have Bitcoins and need to buy a product on Amazon
- Another person needs Bitcoins and has an Amazon gift card
- Purse connects gift card holders on Amazon with the online shoppers who want to buy products on Amazon.
- The Amazon gifts are normally illiquid. Purse offers gift card holders great discounts to liquidate them/ exchange them for Bitcoin.
Let’s take an instance where you have some Bitcoins you want to use as a Payment for products. Purse will look for another user on its platform with needs/goals that are an exact opposite to yours.
If the other person wants to sell the gift cards to get some Bitcoin, then the purse will coordinate the exchange.
Purse uses a special feature on Amazon known as the Wishlist. Later in this article, you will get to understand more concerning the special feature.
Purse Account Creation
As we mentioned earlier, you need a Purse account to enable you exchange Bitcoins for Amazon gift cards, and finally purchase products on Amazon.
Here is the step by step guide to signing up on Purse:
- Open Purse.io on your web browser.
2. Click on the signup page.
You will find four options on signup. Three among them are suggestions to signup using other existing accounts details. Login with Google Plus and Facebook gets an additional discount. You can also use the signup with an email to create a new account.
4. Next, you will be required to confirm the account.
In the case where you opted for the email signup, a confirmation email is sent to the email provided to ensure that you the owner of the email used in registration.
How do you transfer funds to the purse account?
Transferring funds to your newly created account is an important step you must attend to. Without funds in your Purse wallet, your Purse account will be of no use. In this case, remember our funds are cryptocurrencies and Bitcoins in particular.
Here is the simple process to follow:
- On your purse account, click on the WALLET option for deposit purposes.
- The page that opens up will give you various options to fund the account.
How Do You Shop Products Using Bitcoins on Amazon?
Once you load some Bitcoins on your Purse wallet, you can use them to buy products on Amazon.
Depending on the most convenient option for you, you can choose either to shop directly from your Purse account or shop on purse through the addition of products in Amazon Wishlist. Today, we shall explore how to use the Amazon Wishlist on Pursue.io.
How to Use the Amazon Wishlist in Purse
- Just log in to your purse account and select “Import Wish List” to get the Amazon items on the Wishlist.
- Paste a link on the search bar provided on the page. If it is not displayed in the current view, scroll down to get it. Leave this page as it is, then proceed with the procedure in other tabs.
- Now log in to Amazon account.
- Make products selection and go to the product page. You select any product you want.
- The Wishlist button looks as shown below
- Make an addition of the selected product to the Amazon Wishlist. The wish list must be made public since you will have to share it. Having a public Wishlist on the account makes things much easier. In such a case, you just tap on it to make the selection.
- Once the Wishlist creation is complete, it appears on the top left side of the account’s menu.
- Make a selection of the Wishlist to see the product added. In this example, we shall select MacBook as Product.
- Then, click on share option and also copy that link.
- Here is an example representation of an imported List from Amazon.
- Hit on the product and proceed to Checkout Page. You need to set a discount percentage of your desire.
- Remember maximum discount you can set is 33%.
- The higher the discount, the more time it takes to deliver. For a quicker process, select somehow a lower discount rate.
- Check out for the price.
- Click the continue option and get to check out. You will be required to include your desired Address and make an order. You can either make BTC payment by Shape Shift or Coinbase. Additionally, you can Scan QR code and settle payment using desktop wallet.
- The order is processed only after depositing funds.
What to expect after making the Bitcoin payment?
- Once you place an order to be settled using cryptocurrency and in particular Bitcoin, Purse takes over.
- First, your order is viewable on the market. There will be people in need of converting their gift cards to acquire Bitcoins.
- Purse will facilitate the process of getting the gift card you will use to pay for the product you need, and the gift holder will receive the Bitcoins. Consequently, you get the product you ordered.
- Remember product delivery may take time due to the discount factor we discussed earlier.
- The process works conveniently such that, the gift holder receives Bitcoins only after the product delivery is completed.
Final Word
All said and done, you may question the benefit gained through shopping with crypto rather than the conventional payment options. Purse gives lots of discounts for the shopping that it involves the use of crypto as a mode of payment- discounts range from 10% up to a maximum of 33%. As you can see this is a great avenue for you to increase your savings.
We hope the insights in this post were helpful in enabling you to start shopping on major online retailers using crypto. Give it a try and share your experience with us in the comment section below.
Crypto-Marketplace Series — PART 1: Top Crypto Credit Card For 2018 And Beyond
Crypto-Marketplace Series — PART 2: Crypto for Businesses — Why and How To Accept Crypto Payments on Your Website
